GAME NOTES: An automatic bid goes up for grabs among Conference USA programs as the league tournament kicks off first-round action between the Marshall Thundering Herd and the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Wednesday night at Legacy Arena at the BJCC.

New to the scene in the conference Western Kentucky, which is the fifth seed in this year's tournament, finished the regular season with mark of 19-11 overall and was tied with the UAB Blazers for fourth in the standings with a 12-6 mark.

Meanwhile, the 12th-seeded Thundering Herd were tied for 11th in the league with a 7-11 record in conference play and was just 11-20 overall.

As a new addition to the league, this will be the first C-USA Tournament for the Hilltoppers, while Marshall has a record of 6-9 in the event and, while never having won it all, the Herd did play in the title game against Memphis just three years ago but were blown out in an 83-57 final.

From the 2014-15 regular season, the teams split their two meetings as WKU captured an 81-62 win at home in Bowling Green in early January, while the Herd returned the favor on Valentine's Day by posting an 87-82 win at the Cam Henderson Center. As for the all-time series, the Hilltoppers are on top by a 12-6 margin.

These two teams did meet once before in the postseason, way back in 1952 when WKU captured an 89-74 victory over Marshall in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in Louisville.

The winner of this contest will be back in action in less than 24 hours, as they clash with the fourth-seeded Blazers in the quarterfinals on Thursday night.

Marshall's defense during conference play has been rather shaky for the most part, giving up 73.2 ppg. It wouldn't be so much of a problem if the offense were not coming up so short with just 67.3 ppg, but that's what happens when an entire squad shoots only 41.4 percent from the field. The good news for Marshall is that the team has kept the same starting lineup for all but six games and four players have been on the floor for the opening tip for all 18 contests. Ryan Taylor is responsible for 14.4 ppg and 8.7 rpg to pace the group in both areas, while Austin Loops and Justin Edmonds produce 12.4 and 11.7 ppg, respectively.

The Hilltoppers appeared to be one of the teams to watch early on in the conference schedule, winning seven straight out of the gate and nine of the first 10, but then the group dropped four in a row and came back to reality. Despite the struggles over the last month or so, WKU is still producing 72.5 ppg even as the program shoots just 65.3 percent at the free-throw line. T.J. Price leads the attack with 17.6 ppg, shooting an impressive 42.3 percent behind the 3-point line while also handing out 3.8 apg and clearing 5.4 rpg when he's not attacking from the perimeter. George Fant tacks on another 13.9 ppg and 8.5 rpg, followed by Chris Harrison-Docks and Trency Jackson with 10.9 and 10.5 ppg, respectively.

The Herd showed that it could beat WKU not that long ago, but on paper the Hilltoppers simply have too many offensive options on which to call upon for Marshall to make a serious run in this meeting.